

Running long - A trail and ultra running talk
Vert.run
Vert is the home for every trail & ultra runner. On this podcast we host conversations with key members of our Trail & Ultra running community from all over the world. From professional world class athletes to our Vert.run members and community. Narrating captivating stories and learning from and about this amazing sport.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 15, 2023 • 1h 23min
065. Kaytlyn Gerbin | The Pro Trail Runners Association & going all in as a pro athlete
Kaytlyn Gerbin is a professional trail runner sponsored by North Face living in Washington, United States.
Kaytlyn has established herself as one of the best endurance athletes in the world: she’s been on the podium of two of the most iconic and competitive ultra trail races in the world - Western States in 2017 and UTMB in 2022 - and she’s a true lover of the sport, of the mountains and the wild spaces of the Pacific North West.
After the pandemic, Kaytlyn decided to take a break from her job as a scientist to fully focus on running professionally, and now she’s not only active as a pro athlete but she also has a strong voice inside the trail running community. She’s part of the board of the Pro Trail Runners Association - a non profit association with the mission to help the athletes share their opinions and needs, and be an active part in shaping the future of our sport.
In this episode, we talk about her growth as an athlete, her decision to leave her job as a scientist, the differences that we see between trail running in the US and in Europe, her involvement in the pro trail runners association, its idea and mission and how she’s contributing to the project.
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help other trail runners discover this podcast!
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Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Feb 8, 2023 • 1h 10min
064. Thomas Krejci | Founder of Run2gether, African athletes coming to the trails
Thomas Krejci is the founder of Run2gether, an Austrian road and trail running team supported by On Running.
The motto "Run2gether" does not only refer to just running training together. The team is made up by European and Kenyan runners who want to learn from each other, support each other, achieve goals together and benefit from each other on different levels. Run2gether is more than just a running team, it is also active with many educational and humanitarian projects in different villages in Kenya and it organizes training camps in Austria and Kenya.
Two of the strongest mountain runners in the world are part of this team: the Mountain Running World Cup 2022 winners Joyce Njeru and the world uphill champion Patrick Kipngeno. Some athletes, like Geoffrey Ndungu (a 2:08 marathoner) are also competing in the Golden Trail World Series.
Run2gether is a reality not just within the sport of trail running, and is a great example of how through sport we can have a much broader impact on our society.
Discover more about the team.
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
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Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Feb 1, 2023 • 57min
063. Coach Lab with Daniel Rowland | From planning to practice: how to set up your training week
How do we go from setting our goals for the season to actually setting up a plan or a strategy in order to achieve them?
This is the main topic of this episode with coach Daniel Rowland, a trail and ultramarathon runner and Vert.run coach, one of the most interesting Twitter profiles I follow and a great expert in endurance science.
We will talk about the concept of microcycle vs macrocycle, what should be included and how long it should be; how to set up your microcycle, the key elements, matching the focus of the macrocycle and the choice and order of the sessions; how to monitor your training load and the key metrics for it. Finally, we will give a few practical examples to better understand how your typical microcycle (which often coincides with your training week) could look like.
Enjoy!
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
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Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Jan 25, 2023 • 1h 36min
062. Jim Walmsley | The journey is the destination
Jim Walmsley is a professional trail runner from the United States running for Hoka.
He's one of the absolute GOATS of the sport, an athlete that should need no introduction. I’m lucky enough to be able to call Jim a friend, and I’ve shared with him some of the best racing moments of my career.
In his personal quest to win UTMB, and most importantly chasing the best version of himself in the process, Jim has moved to Beaufort, a small village in the french alps where he’s currently training and living. I’ve reached out to him to see how he’s doing, how his training has changed over the past few years, how some decisions and defining moments have changed the course of his career, what are some of the goals and objectives he wishes to achieve in 2023 and in future years.
Check out the YouTube series Walmsley by Wahoo
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
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Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Jan 18, 2023 • 1h 2min
061. Greg Vollet | Inside the Golden Trail World Series: taking the sport of trail running to the next level
Greg Vollet is the creator and director of the Golden Trail World Series, a circuit that exists to celebrate and grow the sport of trail running to the highest level. Zegama, Sierre-Zinal, Mont Blanc Marathon and Pikes Peak are just some of the most iconic events that are part of this global series, races that any trail runner from all over the world dreams of running at least once in his lifetime.
Thanks to the Golden Trail Series, the sport of trail running has grown and become more professional, allowing many athletes to make a living from it, broadcasting the races, inspiring and celebrating the fans.
In this episode, we talk about how the concept of this series was born, what opportunities the athletes have to get involved, what's behind the races and the live coverage, how the 2022 series went and some anticipations for 2023.
Check out the new TV Series CHASING DREAMS
Follow the Golden Trail Series on Instagram
Get in touch https://www.goldentrailseries.com/contact.htm
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
_____________________________
Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Jan 11, 2023 • 54min
060. Coach Lab with Daniel Rowland | How to plan your trail running season - part 2
This is the second part of "How to plan your trail running season" with Daniel Rowland, a trail and ultramarathon runner and Vert.run coach, one of the most interesting Twitter profiles I follow and a great expert in endurance science.
After talking about how to choose your goal races or objectives, understanding your starting point and what are the key factors in planning the season, this episode will cover:
1) training phases and elements in the preparation
2) accounting for the specificity of your goals
3) philosophy and approach to training
Enjoy!
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
_____________________________
Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Jan 4, 2023 • 47min
059. Coach Lab with Daniel Rowland | How to plan your trail running season - part 1
It's easy to get excited about races and goals, but how much can we really handle until it's not sustainable anymore? How many races is it realistic to plan? What is a good way to plan the season in order to perform well, recover enough and have fun? Should every athlete have an off season? What should our periodization look like?
Just a few of the questions that we will discuss with Daniel Rowland, a trail and ultramarathon runner and Vert.run coach, one of the most interesting Twitter profiles I follow and a great expert in endurance science. In the first part of this conversation, we will cover in particular:
1) choosing goal races or objectives
2) what is your starting point right now?
3) key factors in planning the season
Enjoy!
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
_____________________________
Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Dec 22, 2022 • 1h 21min
058. Best of 2022 | Trail running in review with Max Keith
2022 was a memorable year for many reasons. We wanted to close it with an in-depth review of what happened inside the sport of trail and ultra running over the past 12 months.
Some topics that we covered:
top performances in trail and ultra running during 2022
best/most consistent athletes of 2022
most exciting races to follow
2022 rising stars and greatest comebacks
calendars: an overview of the Golden Trail Series, UTMB World Series, Skyrunning, World Mountain Running Cup for 2023
what happened inside and outside Vert
Enjoy!
Please rate, review and share our show: it will help more trail runners discover this podcast!
_____________________________
Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Dec 14, 2022 • 1h 5min
057. William Walcker | Naak Nutrition: developing efficient and sustainable fuel for endurance sports
Naak stands for Nutrition for Adventurous Athletes who run Kilometers, and is a Canadian based nutrition company with one main mission: build the most efficient and sustainable fuel for endurance sports, helping athletes sustain their races and adventures with a long lasting, high quality energy source.
We sat down with William Walcker, Naak's co-founder, to talk about how the company started, what products they make and how, their values, centered on creating a positive environmental and social impact. We touched the concept of sustainability and we discussed about their relationship and the value that they find in working with some of the best trail athletes in the world. We also covered some basics regarding nutrition in endurance sports, in everyday life and during training and racing.
Discover more about Naak and shop on their website: naak.com (OMG their protein nut butter!!)
Please rate our show on Spotify and Apple Podcast, and feel free to share this episode on social media or with your friends if you enjoyed it!
_____________________________
Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website

Dec 7, 2022 • 1h 28min
056. Francesco Puppi | 2022 season rewind: a journey worth living
Francesco Puppi is a pro athlete for Nike, a Vert.run coach and your Running Long podcast host.
In this episode I'm joined by Max Keith to talk about my 2022 season and how I went from a hospital bed to taking second at the World Trail Running Championships in Thailand, on November 5th 2022.
We discuss about training, recovery, injuries, races, mental health and everything I've gone through during this amazing season. Another year of growth as a person and as an athlete, another opportunity to discover more about myself, about other people and places. Progress is never linear and this year has been a really good reminder of that. It's been a process of resilience and responsibility, of both failure and success, where I have learned to find value in the journey way more than in the outcome.
I hope you enjoy this conversation and that you can somehow relate to it.
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Follow francesco on Instagram
Rate our podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcast!
Share this episode if you enjoyed it!
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Follow @vert.run on IG
Download our app and sign up to our training plans on vert.run
You can send us a message with any questions for us or for our guests! https://anchor.fm/vertrun/message
Francesco's links: Instagram | Twitter | Strava | Website


